12:30pm UK, Tuesday January 13, 2004

Iraq war cult figure Comical Ali has made a return to TV screens - as an expert commentator on Saddam Hussein.

The former Iraqi Information Minister, Saeed al-Sahhaf, 63, has made several appearances on Abu Dhabi TV.

180 Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf

Comical Ali during the war

He became a cult figure during the war on Iraq after famously claiming American forces were being routed as their tanks rumbled into Baghdad.

As troops stormed across Iraq, he proclaimed: "Iraq has already achieved victory, apart from some technicalities."

Al-Sahhaf surrendered to the US, but was deemed too insignificant to hold and was released.

He has since been hired by the TV network to offer his views on former boss Saddam Hussein.

"Finding Saddam wasn't surprising," he said. "However, the way he was arrested was insulting."

"We never expected that he would be arrested alive. We all were expecting that Saddam would kill himself rather than be caught."

Al-Sahhaf said he hoped Saddam's impending trial "shall be fair, not a matter of revenge".

"The expected trial needs evidence to be submitted," he said. "Everybody talks about war crimes and the like. But the court considers facts and evidence only."